Naked
and Exposed!
British Sportbike Magazines FastDates.com rates the top 7 hard core
British sportbike magazines where bikes, half naked
babes and roadracing are the norm -not the exception.
In England, a county the size of just California, sportbike
enthusiasts are blessed with 7 major monthly sportbike
magazines! - America's got just 1 monthly newspaper
and 2 semi monthlies.The Brits are so successful because
they cover the topics sportbike enthusiasts want to
see and read about, including beautiful girls. These
great British sportbike magazines are now more readily
available on your favorite newstands here in America.
British Sportbike mag Review HERE

Attend
Party and Free
Seminars with
America's Top Custom Bike Builders at the
LA Calendar Motorcycle Show Weekend July 17-18th
The Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show Weekend sponsored
by Performance Machine held at the Queen Mary Event Park
in Long Beach, CA, continues to grow every year as the most
popular consumer street bike show in America catering to
custom, cruiser, classic and sportbike enthusiasts. Always
the 3rd weekend of July, the 13th Annual Show is scheduled
for Saturday July 17th and Sunday July 18th, 2004.

The
Show features a huge weekend of activities with over 160
major motorcycle and product manufacturers, exhibitors and
venders, together with the leading custom bike from across
America. There’s an incredible lineup of activities
including the Jardine Performance West Coast Horsepower
Dyno Shootout - now an exclusive permanent feature attraction
at the Show, new bike demo rides from select motorcycle
manufacturers, and free complimentary admission to the Queen
Mary historic ocean liner. Plus a special appearane by the
Las Vexas Extremes stunt sportbike riding team featuring
beautiful 19-year old stunt girl JoJofarmer.

As
always the LA Calendar Show offers the premier Custom, Sportbike
and Classic Bike Contest on the West Coast featuring many
of top bike Pro and Amateur builders in America vying for
the prestigious Performance Machine Best of Show Trophy.
Jesse Rooke will return to premier his latest cutting edge
custom in a bid to secure Best of Show for the 3rd year
in a row, but competition will again be intense from many
other top builders including Paul Yaffe, Don Chica, Ron
Simms, Mike Stafford, Cyril Huze, Roger Goldammer, Harold
Pontarelli and many others. The Calendar Show, its bikes
and builders, and exhibitors receive more national media
coverage in major motorcycle magazines including Iron Works
and in TV programs on Discovery, Spike, and with our Show's
associate sponsor Speed TV’s American Thunder. Other
major TV networks planning coverage of the Show for their
motorcyle programs include the Discovery Channel and Spike
TV.

A new
attraction this year will be free Bike Builder's
Seminars held both days at the Show, conducted
by the leading custom bike builders in America as featured
in the Iron & Lace calendar. And then on Saturday night
aboard the Queen Mary in the historic Observation Room Bar
will be the Iron & Lace Calendar Builders Night
Party from 9pm on with all the top calendar bike
buiders in attendance. For additional details go the Bike
Show.

Ducat
Performance MultistradaJune
1st -One of the big features of Word Ducati Week 2004
was the factory Ducati Performance Parts store inside
the main Paddock Building at Misano where you could
buy any of the parts in the current Ducati performance
parts Catalogs, some of which are not available yet
in America. Then you could go next door to a temporary
DHL office and ship and parts you just bought, home.

One
dispay in the Parts store were 3 current Ducati production
bikes upgraded with an all new line of accessories
which will be available in the new 2005 Ducati Performance
Parts Catalogs which should first be published on
the Ducati.com website in September 2004. being big
Multistrada fans, the one bike that really caught
our attention, was this display bike outfitted with
full-on Ohlins superbike suspension, radial Brembo
brakes, Marvic magnesium/carbon fiber wheels, Termignoni
Race Exhaust System, and other assorted goodies like
magnesium engine covers.

Clink
on the picture to enlarge it. We will show you the
new Ducati Performance Monster and Superbike models
in the coming weeks.

Ian
Lougher on the CBR1000RR Honda had to settle for a 5th in
Production, and 4th in Formula Qone behind a slew of Yamaha
R1s abd Suzuki GSXRs.

Endurance,
The 2004 Isle of Man TT

McGuinness
and Ansty dominate on
the twisty Isle of Mann roads at 125mph average!
Preview Isle of Man TT FestivalIsle of Mann, GB, June 5th - 8th: Adrian
Archibald enjoyed the taste of the victor's champagne twice
last year, taking the honours in both the TT Formula One
and Senior events, and as he prepares for the upcoming Isle
of Man TT Racing Festival the 34 year old Ulsterman is hungry
for more. However, he faces a tough challenge to his supremacy
in a hectic week of race action in which he finds himself
pitting both speed and tactics with Ian Lougher, Honda,
six times a winner over the 60.72Km Mountain Course which
provides a unique challenge, likened by one former winner
as the "Everest of Motorcycle racing."

The
course provides a high speed dash around the picturesque
Island, always on public roads, through towns and villages
and over the heights of the Snaefel Mountain, with riders
reaching around 305Km an hour on the long straights, with
the outright lap record being at an amazing average speed
of 204.85Km/ph.
Expectations are that this record could be bettered this
year, such is the quality of the entry in terms of riders
and machines, with much of the front-running action centring
on Archibald and Lougher.

They
would begin their head-to-head challenge in the opening
race, the TT F1, on Saturday 5 June, an event which will
be decided over four laps and not the six as in previous
years, with the organisers considering aspects of rider
fatigue and safety. Lougher enjoys the full backing of Honda,
riding one of their CBR1000RR Fireblades as he takes on
rider Archibald, Suzuki.

Lougher
had to settle for second best in the corresponding race
last year, and that is not something he is prepared to accept
this time around, but, apart from the challenge of Archibald,
who came within a couple of seconds of breaking the outright
lap record of 204.85Km/ph, he faces a real threat from the
two Yamaha riders John McGuinness and Jason Griffiths. Adding
to the action will be the Kawasakis in the hands of Shaun
Harris and Ryan Farquhar.

That
race could set the standard for the week, with the Archibald
Lougher private duel extending across each of the major
races. They clash again in Monday's Production Formula One,
run over three laps, with Honda, who have a long, pedigree
of successes on the Island, stretching to over a century
of victories in some 40 years of competition, having their
efforts re-inforced by Shaun Harris, the winner of the race
last year, riding a Fireblade.

Bruce
Anstey, the winner of the Junior race, for 600 Supersport
machines, aboard a Triumph Daytona is back for more, in
Wednesday's race, but this time, the Kiwi is riding Suzuki,
as team-mate to Archibald, and that could present additional
problems for Lougher, who rides a Honda CBR600RR, in what
usually is closely fought affair. McGuinness and Griffiths
again will be in the equation, while Richard Britton, riding
Honda, is more than capable of springing a surprise result.

And,
in Friday's three lap Production 600TT there is the promise
of more of the same, prior to the rider's concentrating
their efforts into the climax of the whole week, the 'blue-riband'
Senior TT, over four demanding laps. Archibald wants an
action replay of his victory. Lougher, third then, and Honda
want to get ahead of him, while McGuinness and Grifftihs
again pose real threats.

By
then McGuinness is hoping to have repeated his success of
last year in the Lightweight 400TT in which he is riding
Honda. Chris Palmer, who has made the Island his adopted
home, is keen to take the 125 Ultra-lightweight TT honours
for a second successive year, again riding Honda RS125R.

And,
Sidecar racing has played a key part in the history of the
TT races, which stretches back to 1907. The 'chairs' have
two races, on the opening Saturday and then on Wednesday
with the local favourite, Honda powered, Dave Molyneux,
passengered by Daniel Sayle, aiming to add to his eight
race victories on the Island.
The timetable for the 2004 Isle of Man TT Racing Festival
is:

Day
One Isle of Man
Isle of Man TT Festival, Saturday 5 june, Isle of ManJohn
McGuinness riding a Yamaha R1 achieved his ambition of winning
a 'big-bike' race in the Isle of Man TT racing festival
as he romped to victory in the opener to this year's event,
the TT Formula One race, decided over four laps of the 37.73
mile Mountain Course.

The
Lancastrian took the victory in style, putting together
a hard-riding determined performance to dictate terms throughout
as he comfortably headed off the challenge of last year's
race winner Adrian Archibald.
McGuinness took his fourth victory on the Island in lap
and race record speeds, in each bettering the performance
of the late David Jefferies, who sustained fatal injuries
in a crash during practice for last year's event. The Yorkshireman
was also the previous Yamaha rider, back in 1999, to win
the TT F1 ace and McGuinness reflected on that as he savoured
his own triumph. "That result was for DJ"

The
race was well on the way to being decided on the opening
lap.McGuinness who had shattered the record in practice
had even better as the race developed. He piled the pressure
on his rivals with an astonishing burst of speed and power,
charging around the Island's public roads and over Snaefell
in a time of 17m 43.8s, an average speed of 127.68mph -
faster than anyone else had achieved in the history of the
event which stretches back to 1907.

"I
decided to get out there and go as hard as I could, put
in a really fast first lap and give them all something to
think about, and that paid dividends." McGuinness was
ten seconds clear of the rest, and he had doubled that advantage
as he pitted at half distance for fuel. Archibald had moved
into second place, at the expense of his TAS Suzuki team-mate
Bruce Anstey.

McGuinness
maintained the pace in the second half of the race, taking
the victory by 18.6 seconds: "Marvellous, just fantastic
- I've always wanted to win this event, now I have - I will
be celebrating, but not too much as there is a lot more
racing to come next week."

Archibald
admitted he had settled for second best. "The gap was
just too big, and I had some concerns that air might have
got into my brakes because the master cylinder came loose
on the third lap."
Anstey, third, a further 26 seconds down, reckoned "I
didn't really get to grips with it."

Ian
Lougher rode hard, with style and speed, to bring his Honda
Fireblade home fourth, ahead of the Suzuki ridden by Richard
Britton, with Mark Parrett, Yamaha, sixth.

Manxman
David Molyneux, passengered by Daniel Sayle, took the victory
in the three lap Sidecar race, his ninth success on the
Island, having led throughout aboard his Honda powered outfit.
"I had to nurse it home, I didn't think I would make
it," he smiled as he headed off the threat of Nick
Crowe-Darran Hope, also Honda powered, with Steve Norbury
and Scott Parnell third.

Day Two Isle of ManJune
7th
- John McGuinness and Chris Palmer were the winners for
Honda on the second weather ravaged race day of this year's
Isle of Man TT Racing Festival, and both could reflect on
victories at record pace that puts them into the record
books. They won the final races for 400cc and 125cc machines
to be held in the event as the organisers have revamped
the programme for future years with more emphasis being
put onto production machines. McGuinness shrugged aside
the frustrations of a two hour delay to racing as mist rolled
across parts of the 37.73 mile Mountain Course to provide
another hard-charging front running performance as he went
all out from the start aboard his 400ccHonda to take an
action replay of his victory in the corresponding race of
last year.

He
was always in charge, using the same tactics that sped him
to victory, and a winner's cheque of £20,000, in the
opening four lap F1 race. "I decided again to get my
head down and go for it from the start - it worked on Saturday,
and it did again in this race." By
the end of the opening lap, he was 16 seconds up, and had
doubled that advantage by the time he pitted at half-distance
for fuel - it was then he had his only uncomfortable moment:
"they didn't screw the cap down fully and some petrol
splashed on me in a rather delicate area, but I sorted that
out."

If
he was inconvenienced, it hardly showed as he powered relentlessly
on, and at three quarters distance was running some 44 second
ahead of Yamaha rider Steve Linsdell, easing off on the
final dash over the mountain to take the victory, his fifth
on the Island, by 33 seconds. "That was fun - really
enjoyable. That is a magic little bike," smiled McGuinness
as he earned another £4000 in prize money. Mark Parrett,
riding Honda, finished fourth just ahead of Roy Richardson,
who at one point had been up in second place on his Honda.

Chris
Palmer, the Cumbrian rider who has made the Island his home,
delighted the locals as he completed his second successive
victory in the 125cc Ultra-lightweight race. He was always
in contention, running six seconds down on Ian Lougher,
also riding Honda, as they pitted at half-distance.

The
race swung on the pit-stop. Palmer was out quickly, running
a second clear by Glen Helen and then gradually pulling
away from Lougher who was denied second place by machine
problems on the approach to Ramsey on the final lap.

Robert
Dunlop, riding in his final TT, inherited second place,
but the five times winner on the Island, finished some 58
seconds down. "I'm delighted with the race, I had a
good bike, it was a good steady ride. My only disappointment
is for Lougher, he was going well." Asked
if he would be returning to the Island, the younger brother
of late, legendary 26time record TT winner Joey smiled:
"Perhaps as a spectator."

The
1000ccProduction race was red-flagged on the opening lap
as the weather again intervened. McGuinness and Bruce Anstey
were level pegging at Glen Helen when the red flags came
out. Mist was rolling in, cutting visibility between the
Black Dub and Kirk Michael, with organisers wisely deciding
to stop the action and re-run the race on Tuesday, starting
at noon.

Day Three Isle of
ManKiwi
Bruce Anstey victorious in 1000cc Production TT
Bruce Anstey broke lap and race records as he convincingly
won the delayed 1000cc Production race as the Isle of Man
TT racing festival continues – the Kiwi headed off
a determined challenge from John McGuinness who was bidding
to take a third consecutive victory during the week. The
Lancastrian signalled his intentions with a very fast opening
lap – a characteristic feature of his racing on the
Island and which have paid him rich winning dividends already
in the F1 and 400cc races - and this was no exception.

McGuinness
(Yamaha) was hot on the charge, taking an amazing six seconds
off the record, as, from a standing start, he recorded a
lap time of 18m 06.3s around the 37.73 mile Mountain Course,
running at an average speed of 125.03mph. But even so he
was unable to break the challenge of Anstey (Suzuki) who
was running little more than a second down. Ian Lougher,
riding a CBR1000RR Honda, and Jason Griffiths (Yamaha),
were closely behind, with all four inside the two year old
record.

Anstey
was on the ascendancy as they powered into the second lap,
and by the time they reached Glen Helen he was running a
second clear of McGuinness and beginning to pull away. Little
wonder, as the Suzuki rider was bettering the record, with
a time of 18m 05.7s, an average speed of 125.10mph, which
put him five seconds ahead of McGuinness who was running
low on fuel on the final mile of that lap.

"The
bike was spluttering along at Signpost and it cut going
into Governor's, I punched the electric starter to keep
it going and then kept shaking the bike to ease it into
the pits," McGuinness explained. Anstey had none of
those problems, and, as he left from his fuel halt, his
lead had stretched to 14 seconds.

He
maintained the pace, taking his third success on the Island
by some 18 seconds: "it was really enjoyable. I was
a bit nervous till I got out there, but then the bike was
so nice to ride, and it was problem free.
McGuinness admitted: "Bruce was the best man on the
day - I knew I was facing a losing battle at 14 seconds
down, but I kept going as hard as I could, pressing on."
Third place went to his Yamaha team-mate Jason Griffiths,
with Ian Lougher, bringing the Honda home in fourth.

Lougher
was also concerned about running low on fuel, he said: "Perhaps
I eased off a bit too much coming down the mountain, and
that was after I had been caught up in a fair bit off traffic
at various points on the second lap."

Adrian
Archibald took fifth place ahead of fellow Suzuki rider
Richard Britton.
Maria Costello, though failing to finish because of a machine
problem on her second lap, achieved her ambition of becoming
the fastest lady rider in the history of the event - her
first lap, on a 750 Suzuki, came in a time of 19m 43.8s,
an average speed of 114.73mph and some six seconds inside
the previous best set seven years ago by Sandra Barnett.

Day
Four Isle of ManMcGuinness
wins Junior TT - Molyneux and Sayle take Sidecar TT honours
John McGuinness took his third victory from four starts
as the Isle of Man TT Festival continued with the 600cc
Junior race, decided over four laps of the 37.73 mile Mountain
Course in lap and race record breaking speeds. The Lancastrian
employing again his strategy of setting a relentless, hard-charging
first lap to good effect, as he shattered a full second
off the year old record with a determined ride aboard his
Yamaha which gave him a time of 18m 29.6s, an average speed
of 122.41mph. But, he had better to come, trimming four
seconds off that time, and increasing his average speed
to 122.87mph.

"I
had decided to get out there and go as hard as I could.
Ride like a startled hare and try to get the job done
in the first two laps," McGuinness explained,
though he admitted he had been shaken by an incident
on the first lap. He was charging into Union Mills
just seconds after Honda's Ian Lougher had crashed.
"I saw the aftermath of what must have been a
fairly big crash, on a fast part of the course, and
that really shook me up, it was scary and frightening,
but then I saw Ian getting up onto his feet to walk
away, so I got my head down and concentrated."

Leading
on the road, McGuinness pitted for fuel with a lead
of 21 seconds over Bruce Anstey (Suzuki), and the
only rider to beat him so far this week, and as he
charged away and into the third lap, McGuinness' advantage
had swelled to 34 seconds over Jason Griffiths, as
Anstey had a lengthy, and arguably costly, in the
final analysis, pit-stop,

Anstey
rode brilliantly to cut the deficit, but he had too
much to do, with McGuinness romping clear, and having
the luxury on the final descent of the mountain to
be able to ease off when his petrol warning light
flashed on. "We had filled the tank to the brim,
but it was worrying and it seemed to be glowing like
a 3000 watt bulb every time I looked at it, but the
bike did not miss a beat."

John
McGuinness powers through Union Mills on his way to
his third victory of the week in Wednesday's Junior
TT

He
took the victory in the race, which had been delayed by
90 minutes while Emergency crews dealt with a Road Traffic
Accident at Handleys, was at record pace pace of 120.57mph,
and saw him finish 17 seconds ahead of Anstey, with Griffiths
(Yamaha), third and a further 22 seconds back.

Richard
Britton took fourth place for Honda - it had seemed that
the Ulsterman was set for better things, as he ran second
to McGuinness well into the second lap, but then was hampered
by a downshift problem, which cost him vital time. Fifth
place went to Mark Parrett (Yamaha), ahead of Martin Finnegan
(Yamaha), with serving RAF technician Gordon Blackley taking
seventh on his Honda. "It was a good race - the bike
was problem free, faultless and was really enjoyable,"
smiled Blackley.

Manxman Dave Molyneux, passengered by Daniel Sayle, shattered
his own Sidecar TT lap record as he romped to a winning
double in this year's event, to equal the ten race victories
record of Rob Fisher.
Molyneux, with his Honda powered outfit took charge from
the off, putting in a first lap at 111.78mph and then increasing
the pace on the second to reduce the record time to 20m
00.2s, an average speed of 113.17mph. That put him some
55 seconds clear of the rest, led by another Honda powered
crew, Nick Crowe-Darran Hope, but, with some concerns about
his rear tyre, Molyneux eased off on the final lap, to take
the victory over them by a little over 37 seconds.

"It
was a good run, enjoyable, but I was losing grip on some
corners, and the outfit as sliding in places - we had cooked
the tyre, so I took it a bit easy on the last lap,"
said Molyneux.

Isle
of Man Day 5Archibald
takes Senior TT – Farquhar takes Production 600 TT
The luck of the Irish changed for the better on the final
day of the Isle of Man TT Racing Festival as first Ryan
Farquhar and then Adrian Archibald took the victories on
a day of despair for John McGuinness (Yamaha) who had started
out with high hopes of becoming the first rider in the history
of the event to win five races in a week.

But,
in first the 600cc Production race, and then Senior, McGuinnes
the Yamaha rider was sidelined by mechanical problems after
setting the early pace.

Shrugging
aside his earlier frustrations, McGuinness had set a furious
pace on the opening lap of the Senior race, grabbing an
11 seconds advantage with an opening lap of 127.19mph and
then doubling that as he headed for the half distance pit-stops
for both fuel and tyres. Archibald (Suzuki) was hanging
in, having taken second place, just from the determined
Honda rider Ian Lougher, but by Glen Helen on the third
lap, it was all change. McGuinness was touring, and he pulled
off at Kirk Michael with clutch problems. Archibald, last
year's winner was ahead on the TAS Suzuki and battling to
end a lean week on high note.

Ian
Lougher was strong in second place, but, as he took Ramsey
Hairpin for the third time, the Honda rider stopped, with
electrical problems. That moved Kiwi Bruce Anstey (Suzuki)
into second place with local fireman Paul Hunt third, though
shortly afterwards he stopped with clutch problems.

"That
was a good end to what has been a tricky week for me,"
smiled Archibald, who also earned a bonus of £10,000
and the Joey Dunlop Trophy as the best placed rider over
the TTF1 and Senior races. He finished half a second clear
of Anstey, and enjoyed his ride: "The bike never missed
a beat - it was good, enjoyable, though it was unfortunate
for John, but that is the sort of thing that happens here.

Earlier,
Farquhar (Kawasaki) had enjoyed his maiden triumph on the
Island to end a problematic week of machine and fuel problems
on the Island, but the young Ulsterman had to work frantically
throughout to taste the winner's champagne in the three
lap 600cc Production race. McGuinness had set the early
pace, nosing his Yamaha into a slender one second lead as
they reached Ramsey on the first lap, but, Farquhar had
overhauled that to grab the lead on the descent of the mountain.
The Kawasaki rider, who had one or two scary moments on
the opening lap, run on a course left treacherous in places
with damp patches after morning rain, took charge of the
action with a second lap at 118.94mph, which, as he pitted
for fuel gave him the advantage by five seconds.

However,
his hard charging riding was not matched by the pit-stop,
and as he re-joined, McGuinness, having a slick service
halt was back in front, but four second. Farquhar was having
none of it, and as they reached Glen Helen for the final
time, he was on level terms, and then pulling away. McGuinness
was experiencing problems, riding with a broken steering
damper, and hanging on as best he could, but having to concede
second place to Anstey, who put in fast charge over the
mountain to close in, finishing just two seconds down on
Farquhar.

"Perfect,"
smiled Farquhar. "It takes a bit of sinking in that
I've won – I had a few slides on the opening lap,
then lost time in the pits, but after running out of fuel
in the Junior race it was case of better safe that sorry.
After the disasters of the three races, this is superb."

Anstey,
second, admitted: "it was tight, I couldn't do anything
about it -it was a hard race, while McGuinness, disappointed
with third commented: "after the problem with the damper
I just wanted to bring the bike home in one piece."

Go
on a Date with a Calendar Angel?The notorious syndicated live reality show Blind
Date - where 2 individuals are put together to go on a blind date
in front of TV cameras for a national TV audience - will be in
attendance at our Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show to sign
up participants for future date segments. Just stop on by the
Blind Date TV
booth at the Show to be interviewd and photographed for possible
selection by the program's producers.

But the fantasy
doesn't stop there! We are in negitiations with the program producers
to have our own beautiful FastDates.com Calendar Angels as participants
on the TV dates, possibly even as twosomes or threesomes with
some lucky guy. Talk about a dream date and going to heaven!

How ould you
like to snuggle up to our 2004 Miss SBK World Superbike / Ducati
Corse / Fast dates calendar Angels Nicky, Andra and Robin!
This could be your once in a lifetime opportunity if you attended
this year's LA Calendar Motorcycle Show and sign up as a future
participant on Blind Date.

Nicki Lane

Andra Cobb

Robin
Cunningham

We are extreamely
excited to have Nicky Lane take a break from her current world
travel tour and promotional duties as the reigning Miss Great
Britain to join us again this year at Laguna Seca World Superbike
July 8-11th, and at our big Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show
in Long Beach July 17-18th. Two other sensational models will
also be attending World Superbike with us. One is beautiful Los
Angeles based model Andra Cobb who is featured in the current
Mikuni "Explicit Performance" advertising campaign running
in the the V-Twin magazines, and actress Robin Cunningham who
is a former Miss Texas, Miss Hawaiian Tropic and Miss Harley-Davidson.

The following
weekend July 17-18th all 3 girls will be also appearing at The
Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show in Long Beach at the Queen
Mary Event Park. Sponsored by Performance Machine, Jardine Performance
and FastDates.com, thisis the biggest custom and Performance Streetbike
show in America. Both Nicki and Andra will be able to meet with
fans there and sutograph their pictures in the new 2005 FastDates.com
calendars. Andra will also be giving away her special "Explicit
performance" poster in the Mikuni booth throughout the weekend

For sportbike
fans the Show features among many other activities the Jardine
West Coast Horsepower Dyno Shootout, The Performance Machine Bike
Contest, and the first SoCal appearance by the Las Vegas Extremes
sportbike stunt riders with beautiful 19 year old stunt girls
JoJo Farmer.

Silverstone
History June
11/12/13 2004HISTORIC
400th RACE AT SILVERSTONE WORLD SUPERBIKE ROUND
The round of the Superbike World Championship at Silverstone this
week is on
track to be an historic event. Race 2 on Sunday 13th June will
be the 400th World Superbike race to be held since the Championship
started in 1988 and ironically the very first round took place
in the UK too.
The first World Superbike event took place at Donington Park in
April 1988 and the first race there was won by Italian rider Davide
Tadozzi, who is today manager of the Ducati Fila World Superbike
Championship-leading team, but then riding a Bimota. Honda rider
Fred Merkel from the USA was to be
the first Champion that year. Donington continued to be a venue
for the British round, being joined by Brands Hatch in 1993, until
2001 when it was
replaced by Silverstone as the preferred venue in 2002.

Although the
400th
race will take place at Silverstone, this will not be the 200th
round as at two rounds, Le Mans 1988 and Philip Island 2001, only
one race was held at
each. Thus Oschersleben last month had the honour of hosting the
200th
round.

Over the 17
years of the world championship, rounds of SBK have been held
at 39 different circuits in 20 countries. Of those circuits Sugo,
Japan has
held most races with a total of 16, second place goes to Donington,
UK with 15, third place, with a total of 14, is a tie between
Phillip Island in
Australia and Misano, San Marino. Monza comes fifth with 13 and
Hockenheim sixth with 12 races run there.

”The
Superbike World Championship has always run on the most prestigious
circuits. Furthermore, we have developed very worthwhile long-term
relationships with many top circuits around the world and this
has contributed to the overall success of the Championship since
its inception,” said FGSPORT CEO, Paolo Flammini

SBK
World Superbike
Update and Preview
SBK PACK HEADS FOR SILVERSTONE
Super Silverstone: Having been used for motor racing of all forms
since the end of World War Two Silverstone plays host to the World
Superbike Championship for the third time this weekend. One of
the best-attended and
most eagerly anticipated events of the year, Silverstone is the
first of two British rounds on the 2004 calendar.

The Northamptonshire
circuit offers a unique blend of fast and slow corners, but a
high average speed shows that pace and power are two key features
required for any aspirant race winner.

Mix and Match:
After the continual twists and turns of the previous Oschersleben
SBK race, which delivered wins to Noriyuki Haga (Renegade Ducati)
and Regis Laconi (Ducati Fila) the Silverstone event is one where
slipstreaming and the prospect of multi-rider battles for the
lead are a more than reasonable expectation. Last year up to ten
riders, both regulars and local wild cards, were involved in the
fight for the race lead at Silverstone, and with an evening-out
of the competition this season, thanks
to the adoption of new technical rules and a single make Pirelli
control tyre choice, similar scope exists for handlebar-to-handlebar
combat in the 2004 races.

First Timers:
With none of the current SBK competitors having tasted victory
champagne at the Northamptonshire venue in SBK before the motivation
to win
is even stronger than usual. If the most recent trends come to
the fore once again then the rider with the most wins this season,
Laconi, will be in with
the best chance of victory. His team-mate in the Ducati Fila line
up, James Toseland, nonetheless leads the world championship fight,
by only a couple of points from Laconi. Toseland is the best chance
of success for the local
British crowd, and as such will be cheered all the way by his
compatriots.

Chili Charge
Continues: The PSG-1 998RS of Pierfrancesco Chili, fitted with
a 999-spec engine, has been a regular sight in the upper reaches
of the grid
and points table this season. Despite some notable DNFs, including
one at Oschersleben, the 39-year-old Chili is still in a firm
third in the overall standings, and is expected to bring his usual
mix of fan-support and fierce speed to the fray. Not bad for a
man who will turn 40-later this month.

Renegade Return:
After success in the British Championships stimulated the global
ambitions of the Renegade Ducati Team, they now return to their
point
of origin with one local and one overseas rider in their line-up,
riding Ducati 999RS twins. British fans will need no re-introduction
to Noriyuki Haga, as the Japanese rider has been a frequent visitor
to their shores in
SBK guise, and has won two races this season so far. His team-mate
is no less well known, Leon Haslam not just being a fierce and
rapidly developing
Superbike talent in his own right but the son of local hero RonHaslam.

Dutch Sunshine:
The new technical rules have levelled the playing field of SBK
racing this season, and with a new generation of SBK-eligible
four-cylinder 1000cc machines emanating from Japan the most successful
so far has entered combat with Chris Vermeulen in the saddle.
His mount, the
mighty Honda CBR1000RR, has already secured podium finishes for
Vermeulen and at a horsepower circuit like Silverstone, he will
also be in good shape for a good weekend in front of his adopted
British crowd. The ever-more competitive Bertocchi Kawasaki team,
plus the challenges of the MIR Suzuki and UnionBike Yamaha teams
provide more flavour for the SBK mix, with the
high-speed nature of Silverstone a benefit to all riders of multi-cylinder
machines.

Home Again:
SBK stars don’t come much bigger than those in the Malaysian
backed, British based, Foggy Petronas Team, with factory pilots
Troy Corser
and Chris Walker each expected to receive significant support
from the British Legions on raceday. Corser, the 1996 World Champion,
has taken a
second place race finish this year; four-time British Championship
runner-up
Walker has also scored a podium finish of third at Valencia. Walker,
arguably the most popular British Superbike rider to enter SBK
since team
owner Carl Fogarty hung up his leathers in 2000, may not be able
to count on any horsepower advantage over his opposition, but
with the crowd behind him he will carry an extra impetus of a
different kind.

Copy That:
Garry McCoy (Xerox Ducati Nortel Networks 999RS) is another privately
entered rider to have scored a win this season, joining Laconi,
Toseland, Haga and Chili in that plateau of success. Having a
rollercoaster
year so far McCoy will be looking for some consistently fast laps
to improve his championship position into the top three.

Special DFX:
The DFX Ducati Sterilgarda machine of Steve Martin has allowed
the Aussie privateer to show his real prowess this year. Teamed
up with Marco Borciani, Martin has endured some misfortune in
race situations thus far, despite enjoying some podium success.

Supersport:
After much discussion and consultation of the rules and regulations
the World Supersport competitors will all be hoping for a less
dramatic conclusion to the end of raceday at Silverstone. Long
time
championship leader Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Yamaha Italia) leads
the title charge but an entire phalanx of fast riders are capable
of winning races. Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda) is one of the
those riders hoping to be reinstated to the Oschersleben results
after an exclusion, as is his team-mate Broc Parkes and Klaffi
Honda rider Sebastien Charpentier. For
Suzuki, the impressive Alstare Suzuki team includes the 1999 World
Champion Stephane Chambon, plus Japanese ace Katsuaki Fujiwara.
Ducati’s official team is represented by Lorenzo Lanzi,
on the Breil 749R.

PREVIEW
Catalan Grand Prix, Barcelona
June 11/12/13 2004GIBERNAU ON SPANISH SOIL WITH SLIM TITLE
ADVANTAGE
Sete Gibernau (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) races at Montmelo
near Barcelona where his 'home' crowd will be willing him to victory
in what is shaping up to be a momentous season. The Spaniard leads
the World Championship points standings with Valentino Rossi lying
second and Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) third.
With the 16-race season now a quarter of the way through with
four races run, Gibernau has posted two wins and Rossi has matched
him with two victories. The Catalan race now becomes pivotal as
both men seek to gain an advantage both in terms of points and
perhaps almost as important at this stage - psychologically.

Rossi won
here in 2001 and 2002, while Gibernau has yet to record a victory
here, but history will count for little as both riders seek to
gain the upper hand in what is turning out to be a compelling
fight for World Championship honours. Gibernau has 86 points to
Rossi's 76, while Biaggi is still right in the reckoning with
72.
The Montmelo track lies 20km north of Barcelona and has two significant
straights where the 990cc MotoGP bikes will attain speeds well
in excess of 325km/h (200mph). But there is more to the demanding
4.727km track than mere top speed.
Two of the 13 turns have negative camber which means the track
drops away towards the outside of the corner making lean angle
increase for a decrease in grip. The rest of the corners are largely
constant radius turns where the tyres are worked hard, especially
on the right hand side.

Machine set-up
calls for a well-balanced chassis, steady on the brakes going
into the turns, neutral when leant hard over and then able to
translate horsepower into traction when the riders twist hard
on the throttle on the exits. A relaxed, flowing style is required
to link the turns seamlessly into a fast lap. And with lap records
tumbling again this year, Rossi's fastest race lap of 1m 45.472s
is unlikely to last the weekend. Nor is his pole time of 1m 43.927s
likely to survive.

Gibernau is
ready for action. "It feels like home here," he said.
"And I really want to give the fans something to cheer about,
their support always gives me a huge boost. There's a long way
to go in the title race still, but this is a key stage of the
season and I'm ready to give it my best shot."

Biaggi said,
"Barcelona is the home track of our team and for certain
they'll be wanting to do well and will do everything they can
to get a good result. I also can't wait for next Friday to come
because the third place in Mugello, which was a good result after
the weekend we had had, didn't satisfy me at all. I want to win,
and I hope that this Catalunya circuit will be the one for me.
During the March tests we had some difficulties, but since then
with the team and with Honda's support we have worked a lot, and
Mugello apart, the bike has always worked well. In Italy the bike
was so quick down the straight and this will be useful for us
on a fast circuit like Barcelona. We just have to find the right
track to get the set-up on Friday."